Two weddings and two funerals

It dawned on me this week — two months from my eldest daughter’s wedding — that as father of the bride I will be expected to say something at the reception. I am more than a little nervous. So I did what everyone does these days — I googled “Father of the Bride speech.” In the top five hits were the intimidating: Father of the Bride Speech Has to Be Carefully Written; Best Father of the Bride Speech 2013 (YouTube); and the seemingly helpful: What Does the Father of the Bride Say in His Speech?

I guess the latter was genuinely helpful, offering up the basics in a single, if poorly punctuated, paragraph (thank you, Ask.com):

The bride’s father in his speech should act as the warm up man. He should give comprehensive introductory remarks and welcome the groom's family. He must also get the groom's name right, and should not indulge into embarrassing any person especially the x wife, His speech should also look to the future of the families.

I’ll bear that in mind.

About.com takes it a step further, providing three sample speeches. One presents the standard advice, and I wonder if I should deliver it out of tradition or skip it because it’s common wisdom.

Be true to each other always; share your joys and your burdens; love much and laugh much; be each other's best friend. Always speak well of one another, even in private. And when things don't go well, forgive as often as it is required. Married life is an adventure and you embark today on that adventure together. Even though you are individuals, your covenant today makes the couple more important than either of you separately.

I suppose the best plan is to dig deep into my heart and search for the words I want to impart to my daughter and son-to-be. I’m sure some will cover the common ground and I’ll be certain to remember the introductions and salutations, having been reminded by those Google answers.

I’ve delivered one wedding speech, as best man a year and a half ago, and two eulogies — for my best friend in 2010 and his father two years later. So this one will balance the scales. 

Now it’s time to start thinking.

Today's Stats (Saturday, March 22)

Temp: 33 degrees F

Distance: 3.99 miles

Weekly Total: 8.6 miles

Treasure: 33 cans

iPod Playlist (Shuffle):

Waitingfor a Girl Like You - Foreigner

Hard Day - George Michael

ThePromise - When In Rome

And Your Bird Can Sing - The Beatles

Time - Pink Floyd

The Battle of Evermore - Led Zeppelin

The Nightis Still Young - Billy Joel

Peaceful Valley - Ryan Adams

Safe – Phil Wickham

Raspberry Beret - Warren Zevon

Catch MyDisease - Ben Lee